The 2025 college football season has been a wild ride full of twists in turns. Among the chaos of this season, the coaching carousel has been nothing short of surprising.
It’s no secret that coaching a college team is challenging and unfortunately for several coaches they have failed to meet the standards that were expected of them. However, this season is different.
Top coaches such as Brian Kelly (LSU), Billy Napier (Florida) and James Franklin (Penn State) have all been fired.
In addition, longtime coaches for Arkansas, UCLA and Oklahoma State have also been let go.
The most polarizing of these firings has to be Penn State Head Coach James Franklin. Franklin held a 104-45 win-loss record with the Nittany Lions and had several impressive winning seasons. However, if you dig deeper there were cracks in Franklin’s coaching foundation.
He held a record of 4-20 against top ten opponents and clearly struggled to beat rivals such as Michigan and Ohio State. His inconsistency in big games was criticized but the overall easy competition in the Big Ten allowed him to keep his team steady.
He always seemed to win just enough games to save his job, but unfortunately, this time he went too far after losing three straight games to start the year.
Penn State freshman and Sage Creek alumna Kate Gonsalves has a mixed opinion on Franklin’s firing.
“He did really good things in the past,” Gonsalves said. “He built us up and gave us our title and rep but at the same time things were not clicking, and I think it will be better in the end.”
It is clear that fans are both unsure and excited for the future of Penn State football.
Last week the now 5-3 LSU Tigers parted ways with coach Brian Kelly. Kelly joined the LSU staff in 2021 after a long and successful stint at Notre Dame.
Kelly helped the Fighting Irish stay in the playoff convention year after year, but decided to leave because he was searching for more resources. He wanted an opportunity at a school that would truly give him everything he needed to win.
LSU gave him resources, and in return he gave nothing more than mediocrity. During his time there he had a record of 34-14 with no playoff wins. The highlight of his time there was a close win against Alabama in 2024.
Avid college football fan Omar Hamzeh Smadi is happy Kelly is gone for good.
“It is good that they fired him because since his hiring they haven’t made the playoffs or lived up to expectations,” Smadi said.
LSU is a premier program and they expect the best. Kelly was not able to deliver on his promises and was let go shortly after.
Another notable firing this season was that of Florida Gators Head Coach Billy Napier. Napier had a career record of 22-23 while with the Gators. Most fans and analysts agreed that he had been unimpressive, and therefore it wasn’t a surprise when they fired him.
To his credit, he always found a way to win big games throughout the season, but that means nothing if you can’t keep it up consistently.
The firing of Coaches Sam Pittman (Arkansas) and Mike Vangundy (Oklahoma State) will hopefully spark a turn around in these two programs.
Both coaches had spent several seasons with their respective programs, but recent slips in performance have led to the end of their tenures.
Overall, it is clear that this season was of remarkable change and uncertainty in the coaching world. It will be interesting to see what hires these top programs will make to prepare for their future.
For now, fans and analysts alike will have to wait and see what happens.
